#083 Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown

One more in the list of Easy Coast revival rap crews (and another that Edan namedrops).

For reference it went, chronologially: this album, then the Kool G Rap album (see #73), then Organized Konfusion's album (see #74). So I kind of listened to these in the wrong order. The seeds are being sown here though, there's dips into clusters of rhymes, into polysyllabic doubleups, into generally unpredictable structure changes. At times, it comes across a bit clunky, and it relies on old-school end-of-liners more often than I'd like; I don't think it works quite as well across the board as the other two. But there's great, unpredictable energy here, and the production is frantic, scratch-heavy and helps keep you on your toes. Another worthy entry into a well-hidden sub-pantheon of rap history 4/5

#082 VA / DJ Ruckus - Wondaful Wednesdays Baltimore Club Mix 2

Reminded of how much I like Spank Rock, I went looking for more of the same. Not all that many bands out there, and a lot of them are more single-driven than album driven right now, but I did find this mix of stuff in the Baltimore style, downloadable here.

What I really love is that fat ass bass sound. It's present in generous quantities here, even though none of it quite lives up to Spank Rock's insanely overloaded standards. The DJing is well done, good flow, decent selections, though again, there's no Spank Rock-level rapping on display anywhere. I actually might use this as work music again, and it provided a couple bands (especially from the mix's excellent midsection) to check out. Solid, if largely unspectacular mix 3.5/5

#081 Gang of Four - Solid Gold

One of my themes lately has been looking at albums I've not heard by bands I've otherwise liked. This is their 2nd album, after the excellent Entertainment.

Well, this is basically Entertainment with some of the sharp edges sanded down. The guys are still disgusted with the world, still using jagged guitars, punch bass and angular melodies to get their point across. But this one just doesn't live up to the last one, the riffs aren't as harsh and exciting, the sentiment dulled by repetition. I mean, it's decent; if the previous album didn't exist this would be good, and it gets points for that. But the previous album does exist. Listen to Entertainment instead, that's what I'll do when I want my Gang of Four fix 3/5

#080 Frank Zappa - Freak Out!

I've never heard his first one? Even though I really liked We're Only in it for the Money? Well then.

What a curious album. The first 7 or so tracks are actually really listenable folk/psych/pop/doowop songs with a small bend in them. Each is catchy, and largely in the spirit of the genre at hand, but just a bit off. Like a guy at a bus stop. Things don't get legitimately weird though until the closing 3rd: tracks 12 and 13 are actually pretty awesome psych-rock rave-ups, but then the wheels fall off into utter zappaness for the remainder. Actually, its a pretty cool progression, the flow works as the album ratchets up the intensity heading towards the finish line.

I'll give Zappa this, too, he made a sport of pointing out that music/culture/society was a plastic, ridiculous shell long before just about anyone else in music, certainly long before punk, post-punk, etc.

Its one of those albums I respected more than I enjoyed though - plenty of the songs were simply tweaks on styles I'm not that into, and that weren't quite tweaked enough to win me over. A good listen, but only now and then 3.5/5

#079 Single Frame - End/Body/Basement

I don't know what spurred it, but I realized I'd never heard these guys' second album after generally really digging their first.

This is more of the same, but not as good. Which isn't to say I don't like it. The single frame sound is built on enough simple hooks, experimental textures, and generally well-channeled weirdness that I don't mind a bit more of the same. It actually flows better than Wetheads Come Running, but lacks that album's euphoric, catchy highs. A nice one to have around 3.5/5

#078 Digable Planets - Blowout Comb

These guys have been mentioned in the same breath as some of the other East Coast revival bands I've been hitting.

So, simply put, no. Didn't like it. Trying to figure out why. Here's what it breaks down to:
1) Quiet Rapping: its way down in the mix, like its ashamed of itself, or like its trying to remain background noise in a GAP.
2) Low-Impact Rapping: rap is all about emphasizing syllables - it creates drama, creates rhythm, provides the listener a roadmap through the lines. This is all sort of half-sung listlessly. Its a style that could work in theory, I'm not trying to be conservative here, but it doesn't work here.
3) Smugness: its a fine line between self-aggrandizement and smugness. Rappers have been extolling their own virtues since the beginning of rap, but they're never self-satisfied about it the way these guys come across.
4) Girl rapper: I don't want to be an ass, but this rarely works for me.
5) "Coolness": Whispering "funky, funky", and "cool, cool" over and over again is a bill of goods. You'd better be both funky and cool if you're going to do this. I don't think they deliver, so that's a penalty multiplier.
6) Associations: I want to judge this on its own terms, I do. But I can't help but associate this kind of music with douchey cocktail parties, coffee shops and the aforementioned GAP. It just strikes me as being for people who want rap they can tune out, or who don't like "regular" rap. Which is fine I guess, but I do like "regular" rap.

In theory, rapping over jazzy production should work. I think here the idea is that the rapper is just one of the instruments in the ensemble, jamming along. But it doesn't work here, it comes across as smooth, repetitive jazz. My take on rap is that it is a vocal style that demands attention - the rapper presents something so complex and vital that it needs to be front and center. See Busdriver's Temporary Forever for the correct way to use rapping as a jazz instrument. I barely noticed the actual rhyming on here, it was hard to pull out of the mix, and just didn't seem to be the point of the album. It was complex, but it didn't do anything with it. I really did try to give this a fair chance, but no 1.5/5

#077 Various Artists - Adult Swim's Warm and Scratchy

Heard something about a new comp the AS folks were putting together and I stumbled across this (freely downloadable!) mix, with a bunch of songs I don't know by bands I like. So, go!

It seems slightly dodgy putting a mix on here as an entry, but I've made the argument: its a publicly available body of music, here's my take on listening to it. I promise not to abuse it.

Really nice texture across the board; its a well named mix. Good songs, consistent vibe, and the pacing's solid, though some of the transitions are a little clunky. I'll definitely keep a few of these around, and I want to seek out the few bands on here I didn't already know. I might even listen to it as a mix again now and then. But it didn't blow my socks off either, and I'm not all that into mixes (except as vehicles for album finding, of course) so 3.5/5

#076 Foals - Total Life Forever

Pitchfork BNM'd.

I guess this could be called dancepunk, but it mostly just plays as slightly complex, slightly dark, slightly angular indie rock. That's a lot of slightly's, which makes it sound middling, but the parts work. Its fun stuff, good energy, great complex beats and some well-textured effects, well produced without being overpolished - notes of Radiohead. Unshocking but good, will hit again 4/5

#075 The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed

This album project has mostly turned into
1) keeping up with new releases
2) exploring rap
3) catching up on influencial rock albums from the 50's-70's

Should be obvious which this album falls into.

My first mistake was listening to this after two excellent rap albums. To say that the overwrought symphonic overtures and poetry reading of the first two tracks here sounded "wussy" is being generous. Really bad. That said, this was enjoyable at times, and useful: showing where ELO drew some inspiration, fostering my Zombies-and-Genesis-born fascination with the mellotron, and tracks 4 and 5 were even pretty good on their own. But the first two tracks, and last bit of the last track haven't aged well (or were never good) - just cringeworthy. Influencial, useful to have heard, not really a good album listen front to back. That said, I think it suffered from the lead-in - I actually think I could revisit this again in a different mindset and find more to enjoy. For now 2.5/5

#074 Organized Konfusion - Organized Konfusion

Sticking with the theme of East Coast revival. Most specifically keeping with the theme of groups that Fumbling Over Words that Rhyme namedrops. Also, the theme of bands with names that haven't aged well.

Well, this is embarrassing. My West Coast crash course more or less confirmed my preconceptions. There were some deviations: the grooves were cooler, the rapping more compelling, the tropes even more ingrained than I'd realized - but for the most part, it was what I thought it was. But man, these last two albums reveal a huge hole in my rap background. My rapground, if you will. I'm pretty white sometimes.

Once again, this album does stuff I didn't know anyone was doing at the time - intelligent, dense, hyper-technical rapping that's complex and headbobby at the same time. "Positive hip hop" has sort of a stigma attached to it in my mind, evoking rapping that abandons the power of aggressive tone of voice and syllables delivered with force. An important part of rap is its role as rhythm, and when it gets too "positive", sometimes the verbal impact, the actual sound of the words, gets mushy and loses its excitement. This manages to avoid the trap while largely being positive in content and intelligent in tone, splitting the difference even better than the Kool G Rap album. The (MC-helmed) production's hit and miss, but works well enough often enough. I still don't know what the role of 5's are around here, but I was immediately struck that this was really good shit, and that's tough on a first listen, so lets give it up 5/5

#073 Kool G Rap - Wanted Dead or Alive

Done with Gangta for now, starting to look at East Coast Revival. Found this on a list, and remembered his name from an Edan song, so game on.

Yes, this is what I'm talking about. I hadn't thought that anyone did this kind of dense, multisylabic, dexterous rapping this early; this is totally a find for me. It drags with some late filler (Rikers Island, On the Run) and there's still elements of unseemly posturing, but for the most part the rapping is enthrallingly complex and precise. Totally the kind of thing this project was made for, could end up being one of my favorite rap albums 4.5/5

#072 Eminem - The Marshal Mathers LP

Figured I'd hit his next one after mixed feelings about the first one.

This really deepens the some of the impressions I had after his first album, especially the negative ones. Here, Mathers is even more narcissistic, more defensive, more single-mindedly focused on talking about himself, his impact on the world, and how he feels about it. On some level, there's something here - fame took on bizarre proportions in the Britney / Boy Band era, and Mathers is in an interesting position to snipe at it from the inside. And the rapping is still super good. But it just gets tiresome. Its so ugly in tone, in subject matter, its unpleasant. It goes on for so long and is so relentless in its obsession over itself that I found myself really forcing myself to finish for the sake of the project. You can only fold reflections on reflections on reflections on fame and stardom over so many times before there's nothing holding it together, and this album crosses that threshold for me. The production on a few tracks (The Real Slim Shady, especially) is amazing, but 2.5/5

#071 The Polysics - Karate House

Despite Neu! being one of my favorite albums of last decade, I'd never really heard anything else of theirs.

This one doesn't quite capture the magic of my other favorite though. For one, its not quite as relentlessly high energy, more concerned with being listenable. For two, a female singer is on board who just doesn't work. That said, there's a few really nice poppy gems on here, with great pop-punk high energy, sort of like the best Pillows songs. Can't see it replacing Neu! when I'm in the mood for this kind of thing, bu I might cherrypick those few songs 3/5

#070 Rage Against the Machine - Renegades

Honestly, my interest in exploring this band has run out, but this was the only new thing I had available in my car the other day.

Eh. In theory these guys doing a cover album could have been good, and I can't say why it isn't. But it isn't. Partly its that so many of the songs revolve around a repetitive hook, repeated again and again, which eventually sounds like The Fall, without the detached cool. De La Rocha does everything he can to kick all these songs up a notch, but it just doesnt do anything for me. What's changed? Maybe a band whose sincerity I already questioned doing covers just crossed some line. Will not likely revisit 2/5.

#069 Sleigh Bells - Treats

Pitchfork BNM'd.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this one - it sounds like the noise of older Girl Talk, the bratty singing of MIA and the big overloaded beats of The Russian Futurists - two of which I like, though the MIA influence is pretty front and center and obtrusive. Its annoying. In a good way like Girl Talk or in a bad way like MIA? Probably the latter, but at least it sounds different, which goes a long way with me these days 3.5/5

#068 Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts

Pitchfork BNM'd.

Well, it sounds like what Pitchfork is hot on lately, vaguely fuzzy, lo-fi pop-ish groups in the vein of Deerhunter, Wavves, etc etc. Post-grunge, I call it. This is catchier than usual, and I'll probably listen to it again, but it doesn't blow me away 3/5

#067 Rage Against the Machine - The Battle of Los Angeles

Ok, lets see where they went next. [Edit 5/15/10: Apparently this was their 3rd, after evil empire? Dang. That sort of throws things off]

Just to further complicate things, I liked this one a lot better than their first one. For one, the music's more varied, more dynamically produced, with more interesting distortion and production effects. Also, if I'm not mistaken, the vocals are lower in the mix, or are otherwise less obtrusive. While there's still roughly one cringe-worthy screed per song (not to mention a hyper-distorted guitar solo at every 2:40 mark), the lyrics actually develop a little depth, and the delivery is less whiny and more plausibly enraged. Overall, an album that emphasized the parts I liked, and improved both the strengths and the weaknesses of the previous album. I can't say I like this band, some of the same problems still nag, but I'd certainly listen to this one before the debut. Still good riffs too 4/5

#066 Ice Cube - The Predator

Liked the last one pretty good, lets check out his other well-regarded one.

I continue to be surprised how much I like this guy, and this album actually breaks with some of the gangsta tropes I've been getting tired of. For one, I actually feel like this is a pretty personal album. While It Was a Good Day overblows the situation a bit, for a most part, it comes across more as journal than violent fantasy. Anger with the police and the media come through as sincere, and when it does come to cop killer narratives, they're clearly skits rather than boasts of supposed actual exploits. In a genre where you're usually forced to accept an overblown mythology, its a refreshing change of tone. There's even some prefuse-esque instrumental media sample chop ups. That said, the production, while not bad, isn't quite exciting enough to really rev my engine. Still, next on my list of older rap albums to revisit 4/5

#065 The Dead Weather - Horehound

Recent buzz around their new album made me realize that I'd never actually heard this one.

Pretty cool, it sounds surprisingly original from being largely made of well-worn parts. For a Jack White project, his presence isn't all that strongly felt. For one, a female vocalist handles most of the singing duties. For another, while the album has its share of shredding guitar solos, its really more of a /bass/ album, with insistent, crushing bass grooves riding everything. Generally, the production is strong, stringing the whole thing into a Fallout soundtrack; it sounds equally like its from the past of the West and the apocalyptic not-so-distant future. I'll probably hit it again 4/5

#064 PJ Harvey - Rid of Me

Man, I'be been listening to too many albums away from the computer. Backlogged. I'd come across this on a best albums of the 90's list, and had liked a cover of a song of theirs I'd heard recently.

Wow, this wasn't what I was expecting. I thought the angst would be more superficial, more Alanis Morissette, more Dookie for girls. Instead it cuts closer to In Utero, or Surfer Rosa, as 90's touchstones go. Its sort of a masterpiece of tension, or seething rage, with one of the most extreme (to the point of obnoxiousness on the first track) loud-quiet-loud dynamics I've heard. The last third of the album actually provides some nice straighforward riffage, but they /earn/ it, working through unrelenting stretches of minimalism, queer offbeats and patient noise. I don't know that I enjoyed it; despite some arty flourishes it all sounds a bit 90's, and Harvey's throaty, midrange ulations are sort of unbearable. But I do respect it, glad I caught this 3.5/5

[Edit: As I listened to this album I thought, man, these clipped, overblown drums, this sounds like Steve Albini (who produced In Utero, see above) produced it. Which it turns out he did. He also produced Surfer Rosa, that I also compared this to. Its possible I'd already known this, and forgotten I knew, and subconsciously remembered it, but if not, I win 100 critic points for Gryffindor]

#063 The Fall - Your Future Our Clutter

New The Fall! Yay?

I'm mostly surprised these guys are still making stuff, by which I mean I'm surprised Mark E. Smith is still making stuff. Sounds more or less like what you'd expect, grumpy shouting, repetitive groovy bass lines, though the noisy electronics (especially on the murky closer) are definitely a welcome addition. Unfortunately its more Iggy Pop than the Stooges, too much smoldering, not enough exploding - the starburst twins of YFOC and OFYC excepted. Some good tricks here and there. I never really thought to compare Damon Albarn to Smith, but this totally sounds like Blur's self-titled at times.

Admirable, not quite interesting enough, but I'll probably give it a couple more spins 3/5

#062 Eminem - The Slim Shady LP

This is a convergence of two projects here: west coast rap cartography and revisiting bands I didn't like when they first came out.

I've always been turned off by Eminem's subject matter, which seems too focused on shock value and commenting on said shock value, rather than getting down to the business of saying something (and I'm not, in general, buying the argument that such discussions of controversy and fame are themselves "saying something"). But I gotta respect his rapping, which combines dense clustering around a single rhyme, and unpredictable changes to the structure of rhyme schemes; two of the things I most enjoy and admire in rap, and things I strive for in my own rapping (you heard me).

So, lets settle in for an actual album of his, and I might as well start at the breakthrough. For the most part, my opinion's unchanged. The subject matter is ugly and narcissistic, the production good enough, but way back in the mix, and yeah the rapping is pretty good, great at times. I have to grudgingly admire the album though, it does actually go beyond what had been done before in terms of subject matter (in contrast to the Rage album I just heard), and more importantly in the way it delivers it. If this album was a movie, it would be one of those restrained, psychological horror / thriller flicks that knows how to go beyond the gore and be unsettling subtly. And towards the end, surprisingly enough, Eminem cracks open a bit, showing his hand, revealing himself (seemingly) to be genuinely frustrated, even with himself, and more than a little insecure. It makes the whole thing a lot more complex, and its the sort of thing this album project was made for, since my opinion'd be a lot different if I'd quit midway.

Where does that leave me? Across the board, its an unpleasant listen that I'm not eager to revisit, but I'm curious to see where he went next. And there were admittedly some standout tracks that have Mathers dropping his guard a little - probably just the right amount; more probably would have blunted the effect. Its a curious situation to still not like the album, and not like large parts of what the album's trying to do, but to respect the whole project for being what it is - its like a really well made slasher film. I want to give it a 2 and a 5. Well 3.5/5

#061 LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening

New LCDSS!

I think I'm liable to like this one the best of his albums, as time goes on. There are two main shifts, the first is the new approach to production that puts a melodic synth line high in the mix, front and center of a lot of the songs. Where previously the music stayed rhythmic and in the background, here it often stars, dueling with Murphy for attention (not in a bad way necessarily). The second is that the album seems to more fully embrace the heavy, existential themes that really broke out in Sound of Silver tracks like Someone Great and the incomprable All my Friends. There's a nice combination of personal, spontaneous-sounding sentiment and anthemic, Mark E. Smith generational rousing. There are no obvious Daft Punk is Playing at My House or North American Scum mix-ready stompers, but it provides an overall more cohesive, subdued landscape (edit: ah, I suppose Drunk Girls fits this role, though its something of an outlier in its sound, even if its sentiment fits the album somehow). Its a lot to take in, but I think it will reward repeat listens.

Also, does this sound more like Brian Eno than his previous albums, with the weirder, frontier synths and bent pop structures? Or am I just seeing Brian Eno lately? 4/5

#060 The Yolks - The Yolks

I'm not even sure how I came across this, the albums's been kicking around for a while. Possibly via pitchfok, though their review on it was middling?

Anyway, perfectly enjoyable simple garagey punky rock. Jangle jangle guitars and shoutey vocals without actually getting ugly. That last song really stuck with me somehow too. I think I'll give it one more listen and troll for standout singles, but I don't see it being exciting enough to be a winner album for me 3/5

#059 Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (2010)

I really liked a few tracks on the first (also self titled. lulz) Crystal Castles album, and Pitchy liked this one, so, sure.

Despite liking those few tracks, I don't think I ever finished their previous album (which is a shame because I recently found a few good tracks tucked back there). Too-minimalist beats and outright unlistenable screeching show up often enough to make that album something of a chore.

Here though, things are a lot prettier, really immersive, really well done. Before songs lumped around like a pile of electric tentacles, now they're all attached to a pulsing neon Cthulu head, a pretty, synthy core pulling the whole thing together. I had a couple of really nice, trancy, lost-in-synth-texture space-outs on this first listen, seems really promising.. 4/5

#058 Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted

Lets keep the west coast ride rolling!

Surprisingly good - I expected this to go in the harder gansta direction, and it largely does, but it works for me here, there's something human about it I wasn't expecting. The hard-edged delivery works better than usual here, Ice Cube shouts staccato with the right force on all the right beats, and the beats themselves have a loopy sway that goes beyond boom-bap and stands outside of Dre's drawling squonks. I gotta say though, all these drive-by interlude skits and murder explanations are starting to sound the same 3.5/5

#057 The Stooges - The Stooges

Loved Raw Power, liked Funhouse, lets seal the deal on their oeuvre.

I get it now: White Light / White Heat -> The Stooges -> Raw Power. I'm tempted to be glib and leave it at that.

The desolation of this album is impressive, utter sleaze. Iggy would be filled with self-loathing if he wasn't so wracked with indifference. It lacks the gut punch of Raw Power, and its a lot less arty than the velvets' stuff (for better or for worse), and I generally don't find it as listenable, but there's something in its way-pre-grunge fatalism that I admire. Though I have to confess my tracks were mislabeled and I listened to the album out of order, starting with 1969 still, but ending with the sludgy meanderer We Will Fall, which by modern album structure sounded about right. I think I still got the gist, but that's a shame 3.5/5

#056 Band of Horses - Infinite Arms

New Band of Horses! Yay!

Actually, I wasn't really that into these guys other than Great Salt Lake and Funeral (duh) and a couple off the 2nd one - which actually works in their favor here, because they've evolved into something I think I like better. More positive, with cleaner production (less reverb!), and generally good pacing, I like this one much better on one listen, front to back, than their other two - actually liked it a lot 4.5/5

#055 Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Talking with Robin and Dan revealed that I ought to hear this.

Really good lyrics, really nice, unassuming twangy acoustic rock - prettier than Jenny Lewis, less unsettling than Cat Power. Lost me around track 7 or so though, it just started all sounding the same, and I lost focus on the lyrics, which are one of the main draws. As I find myself so often saying, not really my kind of stuff, but I'll probably hit it again when I need something low key and pretty 3.5/5

#054 Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

New BSS! Yay!

Super dense, busy indie rock, which comes as no surprise. Some good electronic bits, some catchy hypnotic melodic hooks, boy girl vocals and walls of backing rhythms and guitars - pretty much what you'd expect from the band. I think their records require multiple listens to get into, and I'm spent from the Rage screed, so lets call it a promising album that probably will prove agreeable and compete with the self titled record without standing much chance of competing with You Forgot it in People 4/5

#053 Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine

Looking over best of the 90's lists made me realize I'd not heard any of these guys albums.

This's a complex one. I had always enjoyed this band's riffs and jagged sound, but dismissed them because I thought their politics were a bit put on, the whole thing a bit hypocritical, a bit too /white/ somehow - which I know doesn't make any sense, not least because de la Rocha is half Mexican. But then again, back then, I dismissed rap and country, so, surely by now I know better and can embrace the good parts of this album and enjoy it, right?

That's what I expected, and I do like the riffage, but I still can't really get past the frontman. Its for slightly different reasons now, I'm more inclined now to believe that de la Rocha really believes what he's saying, that he really does care, and that he would like nothing more than to convince the youth of the world to enact change. Its really just that his nasal shouting just doesn't convey power to me, it comes across as frustrated, and sincerely trying, but ultimately whiny. And I think I have an even more unfair problem with the album, which is just the context it was created in.

Here's a thought exercise, imagine this album came out in the early 70's. Man, it would be a legend - this kind of fury would have blown the wheels off that era. Back then, it would have been really raging against a world that wasn't ready for this music. But by the 90's, the world was ready for this music, and it was gobbled up by angsty teenagers by the millions. When the vocals sound whiny and I get the idea much of the audience was a bunch of privileged kids who wanted to rage against things just for the sport of it, it kills my buzz. Worse still, I probably would have liked this if I'd heard it then - I'm not at all convinced that I'm projecting into the past correctly. Maybe this is me still clinging to my first impressions, maybe I haven't come as far as I'd have thought.

But shit, my impressions now are what they are. So, sorry? Also, I think I have the right to judge this album by when it came out, I don't have to give every schlub who drops paint on a canvas the same due that Pollock got - Pollock doing that when he did, in the climate he did, was most of what made him great. It was a daring act then, and this album, at this time, was simply not as daring as it would have been 5, 10 or 20 years sooner. Maybe it was more daring in '92 than I realize, but my memory is that plenty of punk and gangta rap had largely beaten it to the punch.

If I want to set all that aside, the vocals just don't work. The music sounds awesome, for sure, though the riffs all start to sound the same after a while (I kept saying "is this killing in the name of, again?"), and when its not copping itself, its copping an awful lot of classic rock lines. This is all to say, after all these years, my opinion's still basically the same: 4 amazing riffs, with great production and good beats. Around here, that earns you a 3.5/5

#052 Phish - Picture of Nectar

Steve was talking about Phish, realized I'd never really heard them.

I know that Phish is all about the live show, and I can certainly hear how they'd be pretty kickass in that setting. As for the actual album at hand? Its a little less aimless than I was fearing, good riffs, tight playing and production, generally totally agreeable front to back. I can't see myself getting super into it, and its no great artistic statement, but totally worth having around as writing music or something to otherwise space out to 3.5/5.

#051 Dabrye - Two-Three Instrumentals

Looking for more prefuse-like stuff lead me to this.

Can't say I like it, and I assuredly would have turned it off if I hadn't decide to stick with it for this project's sake. The last two tracks bring some nice fuzzy groove, but no, its messily done, sort of amateur, just not interesting enough to listen to actively, not smooth enough for background listening - failing in both places One Word Extinguisher succeeds 1.5/5

#050 Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle

Never actually heard this one, lets continue to polish off the west coast gansta classics.

I really liked this more than I expected to. The groove is laid back party, fat and slow and skqonky as I was expecting after The Chronic, and the subject matter is simple and almost peaceful. And then of course its a couple tracks about shooting people and going to jail and shooting more people. Which is fine I guess, but it doesn't turn me on, and it seemed out of place, acting as a weird, seemingly contractually obligated diversion before returning to the simple joys of smoking and drinking and knowing you're a badass.

And like so many rap albums, its too long; it really should have ended with Doggy Dog World, though the live sound of Gz and Hustlas was a welcome change of pace, it could have been resequenced elsewhere, and Pump Pump completely broke the album's flow. Its absolutely the wrong note to end on. The album also follows the trope of between-track interludes, though they're funnier than usual here, and actually build up an atmosphere rather than distracting. The whole thing evokes summer LA in a way I can't put my finger on -that atmosphere might make this album really brilliant. I'll let you know what I think later 4/5

#049 Outkast - Aquemini

Whew. Lost some time on that trip to Seattle, lets see if I can catch up with all the cleaning I have to do. I liked Stankonia a lot, heard this one was good too.

This is something of an incomplete impression, as I listened to this in planes and airports, but initially I dig it. It seems a little less concerned with being great than Stankonia, and it avoids that album's excesses in storytelling and commentary. The production's a little less varied and lacks some of Stankonia's fury, but a couple of fuzzed out standouts still got my attention. I dig these guys, intelligent and largely non-violent, but unlike so many 'positive hip hop' guys they retain their excitement and their edge. Some skippable duds (the unbearable Mamacita) but solid and will get reheard 4/5